


Isabela and her own damn stubbornness

by FenHarelMaGhilana (WhitethornWolf)



Series: Freedom and All That Comes With It [4]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-15
Updated: 2013-02-15
Packaged: 2017-11-29 10:29:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/685917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhitethornWolf/pseuds/FenHarelMaGhilana





	Isabela and her own damn stubbornness

Isabela showed up in the Hanged Man exactly two years, eleven months and one week after the Qunari invasion.

"But hey, who's counting," Varric said, as he relayed the information to Meera over their weekly drinks. "It's only the eleventh and a half time you've asked in the past month."

"The half was when I was drunk, right?"

Varric grinned. "You passed out on the table and Fenris had to haul you upstairs."

"So that's why he was glaring at me the next day." Meera cast a glance over her shoulder at the crowded bar.

"Go on," Varric said. "What's the worst that could happen?"

She gave him a disbelieving look. "You realise this is Isabela we're talking about, right?"

"You'll be fine, Hawke. Have some liquid courage."

"It's liquid something," Meera said, and drained her glass. "Maybe a bit of courage would make it taste better."

After nearly three years it was odd to look at Isabela's spot at the bar and see the woman herself, and not just a lingering memory. She looked as she always did - casually alert, armed to the teeth, and drinking straight from the bottle.

"Hello," Isabela said, and took another swig.

Meera raised her eyebrows.

"That's it?" she said. "Just 'hello'? No 'I missed your electricity trick' or 'I brought you something from Antiva'?"

She'd been hoping for a smile, or even a smirk - nothing. Damn.

Isabela pushed away the wine bottle and turned around. She leant against the bar, one leg crossed over the other.

"So," she said, with a hint of amusement. "'Champion of Kirkwall'. Moving on up in the world."

"It has its perks. Fancy dinner parties, nobles dripping in jewels...it makes my fingers itch." Throwing caution to the wind, Meera reached for the wine bottle and took a swig, somewhat relieved when Isabela didn't move to stop her. You don't mess with a pirate's drink - not unless they let you, of course. "Though that's your influence, I suppose."

Isabela didn't smile. "Why are you here, Hawke?"

"Enjoying the Hanged Man's hospitality, of course. Where else can I get swill of this quality in Kirkwall? It's so bad it's almost good."

Still no smile. Meera sighed and motioned her to a vacant table. Isabela sat across from her, nursing the wine bottle and looking for all the world like she'd rather be anywhere else.

"Look," Meera said in a low voice. "About what happened with the relic -"

"You don't have to say it," Isabela interrupted. "We already know what happened. It's past history."

"Then why are you acting like this?"

"I'm not-"

"Oh, bullshit. You've been gone for nearly three years, and now you show up out of the blue without a word? Varric tells me you've been back for several days and you haven't even come to see me."

Scowling, Isabela muttered something that sounded suspiciously like _bloody dwarves_. When Meera raised an eyebrow, she said, "I was drinking."

"You'd rather drink with the regulars in here than with me? You're better than that. Besides, don't you know Champions get fancy wine and everything?"

Isabela rolled her eyes. "What do you want me to say? That I feel comfortable here? You have your big mansion in Hightown, and you have the others."

Meera took another swig of wine, ignoring the other woman's glare.

"The others are the others," she muttered. "They're not Isabela. No-one's like Isabela."

"Well, of course not. They'd all have to be better with a blade." For the first time Isabela smiled, a little smirk that lifted the corner of her lips. Then it was gone the next second, and she stood up.

"Look, the fact is we have nothing in common anymore. You're the Champion of Kirkwall...I'm just a lying, thieving snake."

"No, you're not," Meera said quietly, and for the first time moved in closer. "You're just afraid of being something else."


End file.
